The Married Life Of Kyoya Ootori
by TheBalloonTurtle
Summary: Because even Kyoya falls in love.  *Note: This story was originally a one-shot called 'Approval' but it's now a mini-series containing little excerpts from Kyoya's life being married.*   C:
1. Chapter 1

Tamaki dropped the china cup he was holding, letting it hit the ground and shatter to pieces. Haruhi's face went into one of sheer disbelief. The twins – ever the same – wore identical masks of shock and horror. Honey let his cake fall with a clatter of his plate, getting icing in the fabrics of the rug. Mori remained motionless, although it seemed as though he had stiffened a little. Everyone was silent.

Ironically, it was Mori who broke the silence.

"So...when is the wedding?" he asked in a monotone voice, only speaking for something to say and not really wanting to know. Everyone turned their heads to look at him, surprised that he was the first to speak but also surprised that _that_ was the question he asked.

Kyoya smiled.

He knew why his friends were so shocked at his announcement. It wasn't that that cold hearted, emotionless, power hungry Shadow King has fallen in love and gotten engaged that has shocked them. It was _who_ he had gotten engaged _to_ that has them at a loss for words. Because she wasn't a genius, she wasn't rich or hailed from a wealthy family, she wasn't powerful or famous or even extravagantly beautiful.

She was normal, average, mediocre – _plain_. She didn't have a lot of money (in fact, she barely had enough to get by). She was short and by no means pretty. And even though she excelled at her job, she was by no means influential because she was only a lowly accountant in a tiny firm on the outskirts of the city.

But Kyoya loved her anyway.

And he knew she loved him. When he first met her, she had no idea who he was and when she had finally found out a month later she had been so embarrassed and so afraid that he might have thought she was only with him for his money that she cut all ties with him. But he fought for her and convinced her to stay with him. She still denied all the gifts he tried to give her and insisted that he spend no more on her than was necessary. But the only flaw in her seemingly modest request was that he thought it was necessary to spend every penny he had on her.

"Kyoya?" a soft voice called, bringing his focus back to the room.

"Yes, Haruhi?" Kyoya answered. She bit her lip, wary as to whether or not she should actually go on.

"I don't mean to sound rude," she said cautiously, evidently making her mind up. "But...where's the merit? Why are you marrying her?"

She didn't sound upset or disgusted at Kyoya's decision but merely curious and confused, but despite that, her question caught him off guard. He had expected questions but just not one like that.

He looked down at his hands, clenching dangerously to the back of the chair he was standing behind. The others were all sitting around a large table in one of the meeting rooms in the Ootori Mansion.

Finally, Kyoya took a deep breath and raised his head to look at Haruhi directly in the eyes, almost afraid to look at anyone else though he knew they were all looking at him.

"I guess I'm doing it," he began in a hoarse, weak and quiet voice, "because I love her."

Haruhi held his gaze for a moment before she gave him a soft gentle, _approving_ smile. Kyoya let out a shaky breath of relief surprised about how much Haruhi's opinion meant to him. But he also knew it was partly because once she approved of the match, the others would fall like a line of dominos after her.

And sure enough, the faces of all of Kyoya's former club mates were smiling along with Haruhi, and Kyoya found himself smiling too.

That is, until the twins asked in perfect unison, "So when do we get to meet her?"

* * *

A/N: I was bored and wanted to distract myself. Mainly from Accounting Homework and other things. Me and Club Accounts do not go well together. I hate accounting despite me giving it a Cameo in this story. I envy Kyoya's accounting abilities at this moment. :/

But I do hope you like it! It's a little short but I think it gets the message across. It's set a little in the future so none of they've all left school.

I suppose if you really wanted to, you could get on my good side and review! ;) Or, you could just be nice and review! :) Or you could just review. :D  
Good and bad reviews welcome

~Turtle  
X


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: For the record, I mixed bits of the traditional Japanese weddings (like the clothes) with bits of Western aspects of weddings (like place and music) purely because I have never been to a Japanese Wedding so I only have first hand accounts of Western weddings. My apologies.

* * *

'_This is ridiculous. Completely ridiculous. A child's tea party would be more lavish than this,' _Kyoya thought miserably. He was in one of the private back rooms of the chapel, fixing the formal black kimono. He knew it was a bad idea to marry a commoner. Falling in love with one was bad enough – just look at the mess it had gotten Tamaki in - but he was actually _marrying her_.

"Hey, Kyoya, how you holding up back here?" Tamaki asked, coming into the room.

"Terribly," Kyoya grumbled. Best men weren't a factor in traditional Japanese weddings but Tamaki had grown up in the Western world so the moment the planning began he had declared himself best man and refused to give up the title. At first, Kyoya had found it unbelievably annoying, but now he appreciated the extra help his best friend was giving him, although he would never admit it.

"What's the matter?" Tamaki asked.

"Have you seen this place?" Kyoya practically shouted, gesturing to the room around him. "It's tiny! Miniscule! You couldn't fit this entire _building_ into my _bedroom_!"

"I think you're over exaggerating," Tamaki chuckled. "And if you're so upset at it being so small why didn't you find a bigger place?"

Kyoya look down at the floor in a sulk. "It's what _she_ wanted," Kyoya admitted. His future bride didn't want a big wedding and she had wanted one smaller than the one they were having now. They both finally agreed they'd meet halfway, but Kyoya wasn't happy about it.

"Couldn't you have convinced her to have something bigger?" Tamaki asked.

"Tamaki, we're talking about the woman who repeatedly refused my marriage proposal until I bought her an adequately priced ring!"

"...How much was it?"

Kyoya sighed with frustration. "I wouldn't even pay that much for my shoes," he told his best friend.

Silence.

"Whoa," Tamaki said finally. There was a knock the door and the childlike, blond head of Honey peered around it.

"Kyo-chan, Tama-chan, are you two ready?" he chirped. Kyoya grimaced, Tamaki chuckled.

They made their way out and Kyoya took his place with Tamaki a few feet away. _'To prevent you from running,'_ Tamaki had joked but Kyoya suddenly felt terrified at his lack of an option to escape. He could run for it? But no, that would only make a scene. And anyway, Mori-sempai or Honey-sempai would probably catch him before he reached the door.

The music in the air changed to the wedding march and Kyoya turned, his breath catching instantly in his throat.

Because there she was, walking towards him in an elegant white kimono. She smiled when he caught her eye, a smile that she reserved only for him, and all thoughts of running or wishing they had picked a bigger venue left him.

And for a moment, as he was joined by his new bride, he was utterly, blissfully happy.

* * *

A/N: Before I start, I would just like to mention that my dad just randomly came in and gave me a cup of tea. In the words of Darren Criss, I would just like to say that that is _Totally Awesome! XD _

Okay, this is actually very short, but I think it's the shortest of the lot (at least so far). For those of you who are wondering, I originally wrote 'Approval' (now known as chapter 1) not intending to carry on but later that night I started writing the _next_ chapter (not this one) not planning on adding it in but it fit and then suddenly (at 3 o'clock in the morning, I might add) my brain started doing all these things, probably from lack of sleep and I had thought up of 3 more marriage scenarios involving Kyoya and thus, this mini-series was born!

There are going to be around-about 5 chapters (I already have 4 & 1/2 writen including this chapter and Chapter one). BUT! If you want more, I will obey...to an extent. The deal is that if you want more, you have to give me writable ideas. Start giving them to me now, too. But the bottom line is, at least 5 chapters, more if you love them enough.

READ THIS - VERY IMPORTANT  
I told a friend of mine in art class the other day about these stories and she said it was typical of Kyoya to marry an accountant. This hadn't even occured to me because I originally made her an accountant because it was the homework I was procrastinating in doing while writing the fan-fiction.

Sorry this Author's Note was so long. It's more like an Author's Letter or Author's Postcard. As an apology, I will try and get another chapter up tonight.

~Turtle  
XXX


	3. Chapter 3

It was at breakfast when he first noticed his wife acting strangely.

"Is everything okay?" Kyoya asked with raised eyebrows. She had been nibbling on the corner of a slice of toast, her face looking as though she had just bitten into something disgustingly bitter.

"Does the toast taste odd to you?" she asked bringing it up to her nose to sniff it. Kyoya's eyebrows went even higher.

"Um, no," he said, a little wary of his wife's behaviour. "It tastes the same as it always has."

"Oh, maybe it's just this slice," she murmured quietly, although Kyoya heard her.

"Well then, we'll just get you another slice," he reasoned, speaking as though he was talking to a child. Her face scrunched up again and she shook her head quickly.

"No, no, it's all right, I seem to have lost my appetite for it," she told him, pushing her plate away with a wrinkled nose. Kyoya studied her for a moment as she picked up her teacup, took a sip, glanced at the toast, grimaced and then took another sip of tea.

_'Women,'_ he thought, turning back to his newspaper.

The next incident was a little under a week later. She had stayed clear of toast all week but today she made a simple request that caused Kyoya to drop his coffee cup, spilling some on the tablecloth and across the front of his expensive shirt. One of the attending maids rushed forward to help him but he waved her away.

"Eggplant?" he echoed in sheer disbelief. "But I thought you _hated_ eggplant!"

"I don't hate it," she corrected him, handing him her napkin to clean himself off. "I've just never really liked it that much.

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"Not really," she told him, before asking the attending maid – the one who had tried to help her husband – to ask the cook if he had any eggplant.

Kyoya, still in shock at his wife's sudden change of tastes, excused himself to change his now stained shirt, returning a few minutes later to find his wife happily munching on a piece of eggplant.

Exactly a week after the eggplant incident, while once again at breakfast, the young Ootori bride – a plate of toast in front of her and not a single piece of eggplant in sight – froze with a china teacup poised at her lips.

"Ah, I see we're back to our usual breakfast," her husband teased, coming into the dining room. She hated this room. She thought it was pointless to have such a large table when only the two of them sat at it.

"Kyoya, what date is it?" she asked as he sat down.

"The date?"

"Yes, Kyoya, the date. The date, what is it?" she asked impatiently.

"The sixteenth," he told her quietly, watching her brow crease. Her head shook ever so slightly at him. "Is everything all right?"

"Tomoyo, could you bring me in my briefcase quickly, please?" she asked the maid giving her husband his morning newspaper and coffee and ignoring him completely. The young girl nodded and left, returning a moment later with a sleek black briefcase in hand. Kyoya watched his wife pull out her day planner the moment she received her case. She quickly riffled through the pages until she came to one in particular and the crease in her brow deepened. She flicked back a page, then forward again, as though to spot the difference between the two.

She was standing in a flash, having knocked her chair over she continued to stare down at her day planner, only now she was letting out a long line of profanities.

"What's wrong?" Kyoya asked in a panicked voice, standing up from his seat too. Her eyes snapped over to him as if she had forgotten he was there.

"Nothing, nothing," she assured him in a breathless tone. "I just… um… I just remembered I have an important meeting today that I forgot all about?"

"That's it?" Kyoya asked, surprised she would react like this to suck a small detail. It wasn't the first time she had forgotten a meeting. _'Well, she has been acting strangely these past two weeks…'_ he thought as she put her planner back into her briefcase and snapped it shut.

"Yes, that's it, that's all that's wrong," she lied, walking around to where he was standing. "I have to go. I'm sorry I couldn't have breakfast with you. I'll see you later, yeah?"

She kissed the corner of his mouth and quickly darted out of the room. He watched the spot where she disappeared before rubbing his tired eyes behind his glasses.

"I will never understand that women," he thought aloud, knowing as he returned to his breakfast that the fact she kept him on his toes was one of the reasons he fell in love with her in the first place.

Later that day, she sat on the emerald green, two-seater in her husband's study as she waited for him to come home from work. _'The same colour of your eyes,'_ he had once told her. Her hands twisted furiously in her lap. She heard footsteps coming down the hall and a moment later the door opened to reveal her husband.

He walked straight to his desk, placing his things on top and only glancing at her as he passed. He wasn't surprised to see her, which meant that Tachibana had told him she was here.

"You're home early," he stated, but didn't question it. He knew she had something to tell him, she only ever waited in here when she did, but he knew from past experiences to let her say it in her own time and not push her. "I got a call from my father today."

"Oh?"

"He's invited us to dinner on Friday, I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all."

There was a second of silence.

"I was thinking of having Tamaki and the others around for an evening," Kyoya started. "It's been a while since we've all been together and it would be nice seeing as the twins are finally home from that fashion thing in America-"

"Kyoya," she said quietly.

"-And Honey-sempai and Mori-sempai-"

"Kyoya," she said, a little louder, stopping him in his tracks. He turned slowly to face her. She was looking directly at him when she spoke. "I'm pregnant."

He stared at her, giving no reaction. "Oh," was all he said.

She didn't move, letting him digest the information. It had taken her a little while herself to get used to the idea and she still wasn't fully accustomed to the thought having only found out that afternoon. She especially worried about how Kyoya would take it seeing as they hadn't planned it and he always liked to have everything laid out in front of him.

"What do you mean you're 'pregnant'?" Kyoya finally said, his Adam's apple bobbing awkwardly. His wife rolled her eyes. She rarely had any patience when it came to her husband – it had always been that way.

"What do you think I mean, Kyoya?" she snapped at him. "I mean, there is a human being that is 50% you and 50% me living inside my stomach!"

There was silence, and then Kyoya said in a small voice, "It's not technically your stomach." Her eyes rolled again.

"I don't care what it technically is or isn't," she confessed. "Either way there is a little person growing inside of me and in roughly seven and a half months it's going to be out of me."

Silence again.

"How long have you known?"

"Since this afternoon."

Kyoya shook his head in disbelief and let out a dry laugh, turning away from her to stare at his desk.

"I _knew_ there had to be another reason you suddenly liked eggplant," he said, turning back to her. It took her a moment to realise he was joking and a small smile was slowly creeping its way onto his face. "You're having a baby?" he asked softly, the smile growing.

She smiled and nodded. In two quick strides he was across the room, kneeling in front of her. He took her shoulders gently and leaned his forehead against hers.

"So why do you look so nervous?" he inquired.

"We didn't plan it, I was afraid of how you would react," his wife admitted. Kyoya chuckled and moved his hands down to her stomach.

"Why wouldn't I be happy about something like this?" he murmured, tracing his lips over the outline of hers. He felt her smile, and she leaned forward just enough to kiss him.

When he pulled back he had an unlikely goofy smile on his face, but it sobered suddenly in a second.

"Oh my God," he breathed, looking shocked and terrified.

"What?"

"I'm going to be a father!"

His wife giggled and kissed the tip of his nose. Wrapping her arms around his neck she hugged him tightly.

"Daddy Kyoya," she whispered and she could feel him laugh as his arms snaked around her. "

* * *

A/N: Aww, Daddy Kyoya!

I meant to have this up last night - sorry! - but the Late Late Toy Show is on and it's like a tradishion for every child/tween/teenager/adult to watch it. If you're not from this country you won't understand what the heck I'm talking about. (But if you are from this country, don't you just wish you were that audience! And did you see how many times Ryan Tubs made a comment about our economy/government? Lol)

So here you go, I hope you like it. And if you're wonder why Kyoya is a little OCC, it's because he's just found out he's having a baby, which would throw anyone off!

Also, I have no prejedice against Eggplant. It was just the first thing that came into my head. I do not mean any offence to eggplant or eggplant lovers...eggplant. ;)

~Turtle  
X


	4. Chapter 4

She knew that this time he would not be happy. Her third pregnancy she kept hidden for as long as she could, almost terrified to tell him. She knew him, knew how he'd react, and knew that he would not be happy.

She had done well to keep it a secret from him. He was over working himself lately and any free time he had, she had asked him to spend with their first born son and twins three years younger. By the time they went to bed they were both too tired to even say 'good night' to each other.

But now it was becoming too hard to hide it. She was going to have to tell him and she was not looking forward to it.

But the wife of the young Ootori was cunning. She waited until the two of them with their two year old twins. Their eldest son, Yoshio, was spending the afternoon with his 'uncle' Tamaki and Tamaki's daughter. The twins were too young to understand what they would be talking about.

She found him in the nursery room, sitting crossed legged with Sakura, the younger twin and their only daughter beside him, playing with little toy horses. He had changed so much since the children were born; he had become more playful and carefree.

A squeal came from across the room and Yukito, the older twin and second born boy, ran across the room to hug his mother's legs. His mother bent to kiss his forehead and ruffled his hair. Yukito reached out for her hand but settled for wrapping a tiny hand around a finger instead.

"How are you?" Kyoya asked, leaning over to kiss his wife's cheek as the two sat down beside him and Sakura.

"I'm fine," she told him, while Yukito picked up one of his sister's unused horses. Sakura jumped up.

"Horsy! Horsy!" she shouted, showing her mother the toy.

"Oh! And what does a horsy say?" she asked her now bouncing daughter.

"Mooooooo!" Yukito sang, grinning a half-toothed smile at her. Kyoya chuckled.

"Close enough," he claimed, pulling his son onto his lap and hugging him tightly. Yukito squealed with delight. His wife saw her opportunity.

"Kyoya?" she said softly as he began to tickle his son. He his head slightly to show he was listening but kept his eyes on Yukito. "I'm having another baby."

He froze completely. The hysterical laughter died almost instantly. There was silence in the room; broken every now and then by Sakura's neighing as she played with her toys. Tentatively, his wife reached out to him.

"Kyoya?"

IN a flash, he had sat his son on the ground and was standing refusing to look at his wife. Biting her lip, she stood too.

"You're having a baby?" he growled.

"Yes."

"I knew it!" he snapped, taking off his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose. She sent him a questioning look and although he wasn't looking at her he answered it. "You've been throwing up for weeks now."

"There's something else," she murmured quietly. Kyoya didn't look at her, nor did he say anything so she hesitantly went on. "It's a boy."

His head snapped around to look at her for the first time since she'd told him. His eyes darted back and forth from his wife's face to her stomach. She raised one hand to her stomach as if to protect it from Kyoya's glare.

"A boy?" he repeated in an icy voice. Slowly, she nodded. Kyoya only stared at her until finally he took off, pushing past her towards the door. But when he opened the door, he found his way blocked by the young nurse he had insisted they employ when Yoshio was born. Her face was half hidden by the pile of children's clothes she was holding.

"Oh, Master Kyoya," she greeted him brightly but he bypassed her with an angry grunt, followed quickly by his wife who paused only to tell the nurse to look after the twins.

By the time she had caught up with her husband he was in their bedroom. His tie hung – now unknotted – around his neck and the top button of his shirt was undone. He was breathing heavily, seething with anger. She closed the door with a quiet click behind her but the nose suddenly made his body go tense.

"Kyoya," she began breathlessly, "I'm so sorry for springing this on you but-"

"Why would you think that I'd want another child? A son, no less?" he hissed. She blanched. He merely glared at her, awaiting an answer. When she didn't say anything, he went on. "He will be the third son. Do you know how hard it is being the third son? Already knowing from birth that you can never reach your full potential, that you can never outshine your brothers? That if you want to become something – anything! – you have to work ten times as hard? _Hm?_ I grew being the third son! I grew up knowing that I would have to stand behind my brothers in their shadow, I constantly heard how it was a _waste_ to have my kind of intellect and intuition given to a _third son_! Why would you think I would want to force _my own son_ to have to go through _that_?"

"And who says he's going to go through that?" his snapped at him. Suddenly she was angry too. "What if he doesn't want to do what you do? What if he doesn't want to be a doctor? What if _none_ of your children do? What if Yoshio wants to be an engineer or Yukito wants to be a designer or Sakura wants to be teacher? You were brought up to believe you _had_ to stand in line with your brothers and in their shadow. But these children – _our children_ – will be brought up to believe that they can do whatever they want to do.

"And even if this baby, _your son_, grows up thinking he's always going to be standing in a shadow, _you _should be the one to tell him to bide his time and wait until the right moment and then outshine his brothers, impress his father and then take over the company – _just like his father did_!"

Kyoya glared at his wife for a moment before he started to walk to the door, his face twisted in anger.

"Where are you going?" she asked him, her anger turning into panic.

"To my study," he spat, pausing with his hand on the doorknob. "And I will be sleeping in the guest bedroom tonight."

"Kyoya, wait! I-" she began, rushing forward but he was already gone, slamming the door behind him.

For almost two weeks, neither of them spoke to one another. Although she tried, Kyoya ignored all of his wife's attempts at talking to him.

"Mama, can I give this to Papa?" Yoshio asked his mother on a day that was just like every other silent day that passed between Kyoya and his wife. Their eldest son held up a crude drawing of a tree surrounded by flowers.

"Of course, I'm sure Papa would love this beautiful drawing!" she told him. It wasn't a lie either. Kyoya was oddly proud of his children and had all their artwork pinned on a corkboard on displace in his office at work.

"Can I leave it in Papa's working room?" he asked her. She hesitated. 'Papa's working room' was Kyoya's study just down the hall but Kyoya was due home from work any minute and he usually went straight to his office.

"Papa will be home soon enough," she reasoned. "You can give it to him then."

"But it's a surprise! A present! See! I even a present!" the five year old explained, pointing to what his mother had originally thought was an airplane. She sighed. She didn't want to fight with another Ootori and she knew that if she didn't give in she would only end up having to explain everything to him, which she currently didn't have the energy or the patience to do.

"All right, c'mon," she exhaled and, leaving the twins with the nurse, she made her way down the hall to her husband's study.

Once they were inside, she lifted Yoshio onto the chair behind Kyoya's desk so he could leave the drawing for Kyoya to find, but Yoshio couldn't decide exactly where to put it on the desk, trying different spots to see what looked best. Once the picture was in the right place (right in the centre) she took her son's hand and led him around the desk and towards the door.

They were a few feet away when the door opened. Kyoya took one step into the room and froze at seeing them. No one said anything.

"Yoshio just wanted to leave a present for his Papa," she told her husband gesturing to the desk. Kyoya's eyes flicked down to his son and then back up before he gave a curt nod and averted his eyes to walk past her. Taking a deep breath, she was about to leave when something tugged on her arm.

"Mama, why is Papa sad?" Yoshio asked her. She blinked in surprise. She didn't really want to talk about it in here but he had the look on his face that said he wasn't moving until he was told unless she waned to be on the receiving end of a temper tantrum.

"Papa's sad because Mama did something very silly," she explained carefully so he could understand.

"Actually," Kyoya's voice came, startling them both, "it was Papa that did something silly, not Mama."

He had turned to look at them. In this hand was the picture Yoshio had drawn. After a moment, he put the picture down and walked over to his wife and son, kneeling down so he could look Yoshio in the eyes.

"Papa was sad because he made a silly mistake," he told his son seriously. "But Papa's not sad any more. Do you know why?" The little boy shook his head. "Because in a few months you are going to have a brand new baby brother."

"Like Yukito?" Yoshio asked.

"Yes, but smaller," Kyoya said, giving a huge grin, shocking his wife and causing her to catch her breath in her throat. He straightened up to look at her.

"I'm sorry," he apologised, his face turning gentle but serious. "You were right. There is no guarantee that any of my children will want to follow in my footsteps and even if they do, the order they are born in shouldn't matter. And just because he is the third son shouldn't mean he doesn't have a chance. In fact, I'd probably help him surpass his brothers. Just because he's a third son, doesn't mean he's not my son, and my son gets to make his own choices. And if I hear anyone say anything about his talents being wasted on him, I'll have them killed."

His wife, now smiling, studied him for a moment before she reached up to pull his lips down to meet hers. Yoshio let out a squeal of disgust before darting around them and out the door in a fit of giggles. Kyoya made to go after him but he was stopped.

"You had me hire a nurse for a reason," his wife reminded him with a soft smile. "Let her do the job she's paid for."

Kyoya let out a breath of relief as her arms slid around his middle, hugging him. He lay his left hand on the side of her slightly protruding stomach. His right hand reached up, tilting her chin upwards.

"I missed you," she told him quietly.

"I missed you too," He admitted. "And I love you. Both of you," he added, nodding to her stomach. She smiled and he bent down slowly to give her a long awaited kiss.

* * *

A/N: I hope you're happy. It's very late here and I am very tired and all I've wanted to do for the past hour and a half is go to sleep but NOOOO! I decided I would stay up and try and get this posted. That is how much I love you readers. And if you knew how much I love sleep (a lot) you'd realise just how big a deal it is.

But anyway, I hope you enjoy it! I love all the reviews/comments you're giving me! They're all so lovely! If you have any ideas let me know (or even a request...I could try one of those) but I should warn you, I've got exams all next week so they're won't be a lot of writing done. But I will TRY and get the next chapter up tomorrow.

This is very long and you may not believe me but it is. I handwrite out every thing and this took me 7 A4 pages with _small_ writing. Which is a lot even for me.

~Turtle  
X

[PS. I tried proof reading this as I went along and I'm too tired to do it properly right now so if you see something wrong, let me know and I'll fix it. Awesome. Thanks. X]


	5. Chapter 5

A frail, elderly man sat alone on a bench, over looking the gardens of the home he lived in since he had first gotten married. His eyes were unfocused as he re-lived the memories he had accumulated in his seventy-five years - memories of school, of the Host Club, university, his job and his life after he was married. It was around this time of year that one memory stood out from the rest...

It was mid-April. The ground was wet and the smell of rain and concrete hung in the air. It warm but not uncomfortably so and a light, cool breeze ruffled the hair of the youngest Ootori.

Kyoya stood outside his father's office building. He had only graduated from University a year earlier but his father didn't want him wasting his time so Kyoya had found himself accompanying his father to all of his business meetings. It was tedious but Kyoya knew this would take him one step closer to over taking his older brothers.

A sleek, black car pulled up nearby and the driver immediately jumped out to open the door. Kyoya started forward, Tachibana shadowing him closely. Yoshio Ootori emerged from the car and Kyoya bowed to greet him.

"Good morning, father."

"Come along, Kyoya," his father said, walking past him without stopping, "we've got an important meeting to get to."

On one of the upper floors of the Ootori Group Headquarters (know to the public as Ootori Tower), Kyoya raced along after his father, listening to everything he said as he briefed him.

"The Mikado Company are a minor group who have recently gone into financial difficulty. After sometime it was advised that they liquidate the company. The Mikado Company are debtors to the Ootori Group. They have come here to settle the debts they owe us in an orderly manner. Mr. Mikado, the company's chairman, is here to discuss the matter along with his lawyer and accountant."

"I thought the accountant didn't usually come to meeting like this," Kyoya commented.

"Ah, well I requested she come to assist you on understanding the situation," his father explained. Kyoya eyed his father. Since when had he assisted him on understanding anything? In the past eight months Kyoya had worked here, other that the briefings he gave his father had always expected him to get a grasp on things on his own. And what was with his voice? It sounded…odd.

The meeting room they arrived to looked like all the others in Ootori Tower. A long, blacktopped table surrounded by twelve comfortable, leather chairs sat in the middle of the room. On the walls were some of the most expensive art works in Japan. On one said of the table was a man with thinning, mousy brown hair and a tattered brown suit sitting beside a more well kept man in a slightly more expensive suit. They both sat opposite a man who Kyoya recognised as one of the Ootori Group's lawyers. All three stood up when they walked in.

"Gentlemen," his father greeted in what Kyoya knew to be his 'business voice'. When they all sat down, the elder Ootori turned to the man in the brown suit. "Mr. Mikado, where is your accountant?"

"Ah, eh, she's running a little late," he said in a shaking voice. "She sends her apologise."

"We'll just start without her, then," Yoshio said and then Mr. Mikado's lawyer launched into his client's position financially. Kyoya listened with feigned interest.

More than ten minutes into the meeting the door to the meeting room opened and in rushed a woman with shoulder length brown hair. She carried a worn black brief case but her navy suit looked brand new.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," she panted, seating herself down next to Mr. Mikado, directly across from Kyoya.

"No worries," Yoshio said in an oddly light tone. Kyoya was slowly starting to become suspicious of his father who he knew hated when anyone was late. "You of course know our lawyer, Kinomoto, and this is my youngest son, Kyoya."

"Nice to meet you," she said, holding out a hand to shake. Kyoya took it with only a nod of his head before the meeting resumed as though there had been no interruption. The accountant took a bundle of sheets from her briefcase and set them on the table along with her phone and gave a quick recap of the Mikado Company's financial standing. She spoke in a strong, sure voice of someone who not only knew what they were doing but enjoyed it.

Kyoya was surprised to find she interested him. She had to have been around his own age, maybe a year or two younger but she immediately had the respect of everyone in the room when she started talking. Kyoya was drawn to her. He found himself looking at her even when she wasn't talking, intrigued by the way her brow furrowed when she was concentrating or taking notes. Once he even caught his lip twitch into a smile when a strand of her hair fell into her emerald green eyes and she pushed it back impatiently without even seeming to realise what she was doing. He chided himself for it and turned his attention back to the meeting but suddenly found himself wondering why he was so captivated by someone who wasn't even that pretty. When the meeting ended, he held onto her hand a little longer than necessary though no one – not even her – noticed.

She left quickly and as Kyoya was leaving himself he spotted a little black rectangle sitting on the table. He recognised it as her phone. Grabbing it, he rushed down the hall towards the elevators, getting there just in time to see her disappearing behind a pair of closing doors. He pushed the button calling for a second elevator. When he was down in the main lobby, he craned his neck to try and spot her. She was making her way towards the exit and Kyoya began to quickly follow her. A little way away from the doors she froze and then frantically began searching in her pockets. When Kyoya reached her, she turned quickly and darted forward, bumping into him.

"Ooof! I'm sorry!" she apologised instantly like a reflex reaction. "I'm really s-oh! Ootori-sama. I didn't know it was you. I'm sorry, I just forgot my-"

"This? Kyoya asked, holding up her phone. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree and she snatched it out of his hands.

"You found it" Oh, thank God!" she exclaimed, hugging the phone. "You have no _idea_ how important it is! It has _everything_! Clients' phone numbers, email addresses…" She bit her lip, which Kyoya found oddly endearing. "I can't thank you enough for this! I really can't. But I can try. Can I buy you a coffee or something? Just to say thanks?"

Kyoya paused, and then found himself smiling. "Sure, that sounds great," he said.

And so Kyoya found himself in a small coffee shop just down the road from Ootori, drinking the coffee she had insisted she pay for, despite how much he insisted otherwise. She was surprisingly easy to talk to, he found.

"A host club?" she exclaimed in disbelief when he told her. "You were in a host club?"

"Yes, why is that so hard to believe?" Kyoya asked, amused by her reaction. He had been wary when she had asked about his schooling but the sound of her laugh changed that. It did something to him and made him laugh too.

The young accountant shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "It's just a host club seems so…unusual and you don't strike me as the type of person to be in one. You seem more like the type of guy who…" She flushed and shook her head. "Never mind."

"No, go on," Kyoya prodded. She bit her lip and he grinned. "I seem more like a guy who…?"

"I was going to say you seem more like a guy who folds his ties."

Kyoya's eyebrows shot up. "I see."

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, her cheeks turning pinker. "You see? That's why I didn't want to say it. Now you're offended."

"For the record, I don't fold my ties."

"No?"

"No. I have the servants do it for me," Kyoya only half joked.

Her laugh made him smile and want to reach out to the hand she had resting on the table. He couldn't explain it, and he didn't really want to, either.

Her phone beeped, startling them both. She picked it up and frowned as she read the text message.

"Crap, it's my boss," she said in an annoyed tone. She turned to him with an apologetic look. "I have to go, but it was nice meeting you."

She stood up and offered him her hand and this time he held onto it _much_ longer than necessary.

"Can I see you again?" he asked without thinking. She stared at him.

"Um, sure," she said softly and Kyoya smiled.

Kyoya Ootori, sitting alone on the bench, smiled at the memory. The garden was alive with the sound of children playing. There was a smell of roses in the spring air.

"What are you doing here on your own?" a women's voice asked. Kyoya turned to see his wife walking towards him.

"Remembering," he told her as she sat down beside him.

"Remembering what?"

"Of how we first met."

She took his hand with one of hers and pointed down to the garden with the other, "Why are you wasting your time on the past when the future is right down there?"

And she was right. Further down in the garden were the playful shouts of he Ootori family – children, grandchildren and even one great-grandchild on the way. Mixed in among the Ootoris were the generations of the Suoh, Fujioka, Hitachiin, Haninozuka and Morinozuka families; some married, some best friends. The former Host Club members all sat around a garden table, smiling as they watched their families playing a commoner game of Kick The Can.

One man playing with his children turned and looked up at them. Kyoya watched his third and youngest son – now the President of the Ootori Group – pick up his own eight-year-old daughter. He whispered something to her, pointing up at her grandparents. They both smiled waved brightly.

Kyoya raised his free arm and waved back, knowing he was truly happy, while squeezing the hand of the woman sitting beside him, knowing she helped make it so.

* * *

A/N: And it's over! For now, at least.

I really hope you guys liked it.

And I'm sorry for not putting this up last night like I planned but I had studying to do, (and I missed precious French study to finish this so if I fail, I'm blaming you guys!)

But, despite me putting it up later than planned you guys should be glad because I'm supposed to be in school right now but it snowed _a lot _yesterday so 'Can I hear a whoop whoop?' (this is the part were you review and say woop woop.) I'm supposed to be studying for exams right now too but I'm under the pretense that I'm looking for past examination papers. :P

So enjoy, review and...uh...wish me luck in this freezing cold that I don't get hypothermia and die...[pause] :D

~Turtle  
X

P.S. - It was_ so weird_ writing Kyoya as a elderly man! I just couldn't picture it! Never again! :S


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